Tuesday, 29 April 2014

Abducted schoolgirls allegedly married off for N2,000, moved abroad

According to reports, the 234 girls abducted at Government Girls College
on April 15th may have been married off for N2,000 each and may also
have been removed from the Nigeria to neighbouring countries like Chad
and Cameroon.

Most of the 234 Borno schoolgirls in
Boko Haram captivity have been ferried abroad to Chad and Cameroon after
they were married off to sect members on N2,000 bride price each, an
elder told Daily Trust yesterday.

Dr. Pogu
Chibok, who is the leader of the Chibok Elders Forum, told Daily Trust
yesterday that latest information available to them indicates that most
of the girls have been taken to the neighboring Cameroon and Chad by
their captors.

He said before they were ferried in canoes across the
Lake Chad, a wedding ceremony was conducted at a town on the border with
Cameroon where they were married off to Boko Haram militants. Continue...

He
said N2,000 was paid as bride price on each of the girls to the specific
Boko Haram members who took them from their school and who had assumed
“ownership” of the students.

“They ferried them in canoes to Cameroon
and Chad republic after they were wedded off to Boko Haram members who
bidded (sic) and paid N2,000 each as dowries on their heads,” Bitrus
said.
“The dowry was paid to their captors, the very people who
abducted them from their school. One of them who married one of the
girls took her to a border town close to Cameroon where villagers saw
her.”

Following their abduction, the schoolgirls were thought to be
first taken to the Boko Haram camps in the notorious Sambisa Forest.
Reports later said villagers had seen the girls being conveyed in trucks
to other locations.

Bitrus said yesterday: “So many sources have
informed us that the girls have been taken to Cameroon. Many villagers
said they saw the girls being transported in trucks and then in canoes.
“On
Sunday they were taken to Dikwa area where they (Boko Haram) have a
camp there. From there they took them to Marte, then Monguno before they
were finally ferried in canoes. It was yesterday we got this latest
report of them being married off to the insurgents by their captors.”

He
said sources in Cameroon told them that most of the girls were now
being held at “an area where the Boko Haram operates in Cameroon.”

On
whether military authorities were informed about the movements of the
girls, Bitrus said: “The military was alerted on Tuesday about two weeks
ago when some villagers saw many of the girls being transported in
trucks, some with even their school uniforms. The villagers tried
calling the senator representing the zone but they couldn’t get him so
they went to Bama barracks where they reported the matter.

“At the
Bama barracks they were told that they must put it in writing, that that
is the military tradition. At that time if the military had intervened
they would have stopped them from reaching their destination.

“And
the fact that for nearly two weeks we have been talking about this and
nothing is being done, then there are questions we have to ask. Nobody
did anything.”

Bitrus sobbed as he spoke to our reporter yesterday.
“What
is happening with the Nigerian nation? I think we demand some answers.
Today it is happening to these unfortunate girls from Chibok, tomorrow
it may be somewhere else and that is why all Nigerians must rally around
us on this,” he said.

“If these captors are trying to achieve a
political point, I think the best thing is for us to try to make sure
that they don’t succeed but from all indications they are succeeding due
to inaction of government. It is helping these people in achieving
their objectives.”
Earlier yesterday, Bitrus spoke to the BBC Hausa
radio saying “parents of these girls have been angry that despite the
existence of government, there has not been concrete effort from
government on the matter.

“Female parents have been crying day and
night, because nobody knows what government is doing about the whole
issue. All that we read in the papers is that Nigerian Army have done
this or that.”
When contacted over claims that the military was
informed of the movement of the schoolgirls, the Director of Defence
Information, Major General Chris Olukolade, told Daily Trust: “The
concern and anxiety from all quarters is quite understandable. Please be
assured that as much as the forces may not disclose details of action
being taken to secure the freedom of the girls, every information
received on the subject is duly analyzed and acted upon as necessary.

“No
information is being ignored in the concerted effort to ensure the
safety and freedom of the girls. Just pray for the successful outcome of
all efforts please.”

No comments:

Post a Comment

Disclaimer:*Atinuke does NOT own any other blog/website apart from www.missatinuke.blogspot.com*Comments on this blog are NOT posted by Atinuke.*Miss Atinuke's Blog readers are SOLELY responsible for the comments they post on missatinuke.blogspot.comKindly Drop Your Comments! Thank You!